A OO Love After Officially Announcing with the Best Actress - Chapter 7

When they rushed to the makeup room, the makeup artist had been temporarily pulled away to do makeup for the extras. Lin Ke simply changed into her costume first. She finished in five minutes, then came out and gazed fondly at her fair-skinned self in the makeup mirror.

Lu Tu hung up the phone. “Stop looking. I’ve already informed the styling teacher. She’ll be back in a bit. Since you have this much free time, you might as well hurry and read the script.”

The moment the script was mentioned, Lin Ke felt nervous. She picked up the script and went through the two scenes they were filming today from beginning to end.

Today, she had one scene opposite Lin Bingran and one group scene. She was not worried about the group scene, but she was worried about the scene with Lin Bingran.

The styling teacher returned, and Lin Bingran entered behind her.

Lin Ke put away the script and sweetly called out, “Teacher Lin, good morning. Have you eaten breakfast?”

Lin Bingran gave a faint hum and replied with two words, “Xiao Lin.”

Lin Ke could not help grumbling inwardly. Some film queens looked glorious in front of others but secretly ate behind their backs. Would saying two more words make her vomit out last night’s dumplings?

Lin Ke smiled, then realized the styling teacher was doing Lin Bingran’s makeup first. Her expression became even more colorful.

She lowered her head and tried hard to immerse herself in the script, forcing herself not to think about random things.

Lu Tu went out for a while and returned with a cup of tea for her. She gave Lin Ke a look whose meaning only the two of them understood.

Drink tea. Cool your temper.

Lin Ke held it and took a sip. It was bitter and astringent. It really did calm the fire, but she could not help secretly looking at Lin Bingran.

The makeup artist stood on Lin Bingran’s right, while Guo Rongrong stood on her left holding the call sheet. “After makeup, you’ll go next door for an interview. Once the interview is done, it’ll be almost time to see the fans. The fans are already on their way and are expected to arrive around ten. You’ll chat with them for about ten minutes. These are the drafts from the two media outlets. Take a look first…”

Lin Bingran hummed, lifting her eyes to cooperate with the makeup artist. Through the mirror, she caught Lin Ke secretly looking at her.

A cup of tea had been placed in front of the makeup mirror. It looked as if only a shallow sip had been taken. Lin Bingran said, “Divide the tea leaves we brought among the fans. Don’t accept gifts.”

Guo Rongrong nodded. “Anything else?”

Lin Bingran said, “The weather is hot. Give everyone in the crew some too.”

Guo Rongrong went off to handle it. The makeup artist smiled and thanked her. “Thank you, Teacher Lin.”

The back of Lin Ke’s chair was gently pushed. Lin Ke raised her eyes, turned her head, and said to Lin Bingran, “Thank you, Teacher Lin.”

Lin Bingran flipped through the interview draft. “You’re welcome. You’re also a fan. Yesterday, I said I’d give you some tea. I’ll have my assistant send it to your hotel later.”

Lin Ke smiled, but in reality, her teeth were grinding so hard her gums hurt.

After Lin Bingran finished her makeup and left the makeup room, the styling teacher finally started on Lin Ke’s makeup. Lin Ke needed darker foundation and freckles dotted on, so it took more time. Once her makeup was done, she rushed to the filming location.

In the story, Chu Feng was born in the countryside. Her parents had died early, and there was only one older sister left in the family. The two sisters depended on each other, and it had not been easy for her sister to raise her until she was sixteen.

On set, Shen Feng had already finished preparing. A large camera crane was suspended overhead. First, they were filming a shot of Chu Feng running through the fields.

School ended early today. Chu Feng was hungry and thinking about going home for dinner. After class, she rushed out of the classroom like lightning, bumping the teacher’s body crooked. The cafeteria granny kindly called after her to run slower.

She stepped across the one-meter-wide moat, ran out of the little town, and the scene cut to an empty shot of blue sky and white clouds.

When she appeared again, she was on a ridge between fields. The little town bordered the countryside, and villagers carrying shoulder poles were fertilizing the fields on both sides.

A middle-aged man called out to Chu Feng. “Xiao Feng! Your ducks ran out of the pen and were eating seedlings in the field! I drove them back home for you!”

Chu Feng quickly nodded. As she ran, she looked back. The wind puffed up the legs of her pants, and her smile carried the usual innocence and brightness of a mountain child.

“Thank you, Uncle! I’ll treat you to salted duck eggs after we pickle them!”

“Aye, sure!”

Chu Feng grinned. Her straight bangs and chin-length short hair were blown wildly by the wind. She was like a little beast in the wilderness, freely passing through the field ridges and wheat fields.

One shot took until almost noon to film. Lin Ke handled her expression appropriately, but all kinds of accidents kept happening whenever she ran.

She accidentally slipped and fell into the field. When filming a close-up, she accidentally ran too fast, causing the cameraman carrying the equipment to be unable to keep up.

A single long shot was filmed for two hours. Every time the blocking had to be redone, it took a lot of time.

During the break, Lu Tu handed Lin Ke oil-blotting paper to wipe her sweat. In the distance, car horns sounded nonstop. Three mid-sized commercial vans came rumbling closer. Posters of Lin Bingran were pasted on the vehicles. The fan support vans and fans had arrived.

“How generous!”

Someone teased and asked Shen Feng, “Director, is this scene done? If it is, everyone’s going to eat cake!”

Shen Feng was in front of the monitor watching the playback. After confirming there was no issue with the final frame, she picked up the walkie-talkie and said, “All right. Rest for an hour. Go collect Teacher Lin’s benefits!”

Unrelated personnel withdrew one after another. The rest stayed behind to move machines and remove equipment.

Since it was Lin Bingran’s fan support visit, they would definitely bring food and drinks for the crew. If they were generous, there would also be useful gifts.

Those who could go went personally to collect the benefits. Those who could not asked their colleagues to bring them a share.

Lin Ke scratched her head. There was still mud on her body from when she had fallen earlier, and she was not sure whether she should go.

The interview was finally nearing its end. Guo Rongrong came to knock on the door. “Jie, the fans are here.”

Lin Bingran nodded, stood up, shook hands with the media team with a smile, and said, “My fans came to visit the set. It’s so hot, I shouldn’t keep them waiting. Let’s stop here for today.”

The one interviewing Lin Bingran was a male omega. Looking at Lin Bingran’s smiling face, his own face turned red. He had not expected Lin Bingran to have so little of a celebrity attitude. In the middle of the interview, he had even smuggled in two personal questions, but Lin Bingran had not gotten angry.

“O-Of course. Please go ahead, Teacher Lin.” Once the official work was done, the male omega stammered, “Teacher Lin, could we take a photo together? I’m your fan. Could I also ask for an autograph?”

Lin Bingran smiled. “Of course.”

There were five or six people in the media team. Taking photos and signing for each of them delayed her by another dozen minutes.

Lin Bingran went straight to the makeup room. Guo Rongrong helped her change clothes. What she had worn earlier was her costume. Since the interview was text-based and only for articles and magazines, with no video involved, it did not matter. But she would definitely be photographed when meeting fans.

Actors had to keep their styling confidential to prevent accidental spoilers.

After tidying her hair and clothes, Lin Bingran stood before the mirror and drank a large cup of tea.

Guo Rongrong comforted her. “Jie, don’t be nervous. So many years have passed. The ones coming this time are all old fans. Nothing will happen.”

Lin Bingran lowered her eyes. Her palm was covered in sweat as she handed the cup to Guo Rongrong. “I know. Let’s go.”

The commercial vans stopped outside the set. A group of fans were moving things, arranging the scene, setting out cake and cold drinks, and chattering while holding support signs. They chatted with the crew members, asking them to take good care of their idol.

Lin Bingran’s brows were tense. She walked from the makeup room to the entrance of the little town. The entrance was newly built by the government, made to look ancient, tall, and grand. For the sake of filming, the crew had deliberately added aged-looking marks. Beneath the blazing sun, the gate cast a shadow.

Lin Bingran paused in that patch of darkness. After tidying herself a little, she put on a smile and walked out to greet her fans.

“Ahhhhh!!!!”

“Ranran!!!!”

“The sun is so strong, but the fans are really going all out. Three commercial vans and several small cars. Tsk, tsk.” Lin Ke held a piece of cake in her hand, but Lu Tu scooped away half the cream. “Damn it, that’s enough!”

Lu Tu asked, “Can you skip lunch if you eat this cake? Have you already metabolized all the calories you created last night?”

Lin Ke sneered. “Of course not.”

Lu Tu snorted and stole half of Lin Ke’s cake, then happily ate and drank with Xiao Wang. She also continued commenting on the previous topic. “Lin Bingran hasn’t accepted fan support visits for so many years. This time, she’s doing it out of consideration for Director Shen. No matter how big the scale is, it’s not surprising. For you to reach this position, your ancestral grave would have to catch fire.”

Lin Ke said nothing. She lowered her head and hid a little farther into the shade. The sun was too fierce.

Lu Tu noticed and immediately mocked her. “Stop hiding. It doesn’t matter even if you’re photographed. Looking this miserable, even your own mother wouldn’t recognize you.”

Lin Ke fiercely fed herself a mouthful of cake. Her face was dark, with a few dried mud spots on it. When she came back to grab cake earlier, she had fallen again. In the end, Assistant Xiao Wang had already helped her carry the cake first.

After finishing, Lu Tu clapped her hands and told Lin Ke to go back and prepare for the scene.

The cake was fragrant and sweet. Lin Ke ate it preciously and swallowed very slowly. “I haven’t finished eating yet. The set is empty. Who’s going to run lines with me?”

Lu Tu left while cursing and saying Lin Ke was not hardworking enough, leaving Xiao Wang in place to accompany her.

Xiao Wang was an alpha, responsible for doing some of the physically demanding tasks in Lin Ke’s daily life. He comforted her, “Teacher Xiao Lin, you’re especially hardworking. I saw that you’ve flipped through your script until it’s almost falling apart.”

Lin Ke ate the cake. There was only one bite left. Her fork scraped back and forth against the plate. “I’m thirsty. Please help me get some water.”

Xiao Wang did not suspect anything and ran off to get water.

Lin Ke refocused her gaze. It landed on the eight-tier cake outside that had not yet been fully distributed.

Lin Bingran chatted and laughed naturally with her old fans. There were fewer than ten people in the fan group, and some had followed her since her debut. Apart from being fans, they also had another layer of friendship with her.

“Jie, why is only Rongrong beside you? Why don’t you get a couple more assistants?”

Lin Bingran smiled. Before she could speak, Guo Rongrong felt wronged first.

Guo Rongrong said, “Exactly! Everything has to be done by me. She might as well work me to death!”

The fans laughingly joined in. “Rongrong-jie, we prepared a gift for you. After accepting the gift, don’t keep deducting Ranran-jie’s snacks anymore, okay?”

“You really spent too much.” Lin Bingran laughed helplessly as she looked at the arrangement at the town entrance. “Only a few people came, but the scale is already comparable to a proper fan club event.”

One old fan said, “It wasn’t easy to get the chance to organize one for you. It’s everyone’s sincerity.”

Lin Bingran asked, “How much money did you raise? I’ll have Rongrong return it all to you later.”

The few people hurriedly shook their heads and refused all at once. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t much. Everyone is working now, and we didn’t take money from minors. Most of it came from working adults over twenty-five.”

Lin Bingran disagreed and insisted on returning the money, asking Guo Rongrong to go count the gifts.

Food and drinks were small expenses. The big expense was the gifts for the entire crew.

Each woman received a four-digit cosmetics set, and each man received a big-brand razor, also worth four digits. There were dozens of people in the crew, and they also had to consider the actors. The gifts for the actors were probably even more carefully chosen.

Lin Bingran wanted to return the money, but the fans refused. Staff members continued arriving one after another to cut cake and receive gifts.

The scene was noisy and chaotic. No one noticed a shadow quietly approaching.

Guo Rongrong came back halfway through. Originally, they had only planned for Lin Bingran to chat with the fan group for ten minutes. Who knew Lin Bingran would end up talking for almost half an hour? “You need to prepare for the scene soon. Hurry and take a group photo.”

The fans did not want to delay Lin Bingran’s filming, so they began lining up and arranging the photo.

Once the formation was ready, Lin Bingran, surrounded by fans, slipped out from the crowd. She stood at the back and curved her lips into a smile. The noisy surroundings gradually quieted down as well. The crew photographer wholeheartedly took the photo for them.

“One.”

“Two.”

Just as everyone was about to shout “cheese,” the person standing at Lin Bingran’s lower right suddenly sprang up.

“Lin Bingran—”

Another roar was even louder, the sweet voice cracking directly.

“Lin Bingran!”

The camera image froze on Lin Bingran being tackled to the ground. After the entire scene froze for an instant, it exploded into chaos!

Lin Bingran only felt the world spin. Her ears were almost deafened by the shouting. Her back hurt from the fall. Someone was pressing down on her body and was kicked hard twice.

“Jie!”

“Hurry, hurry!”

“Security—”

The scene was a mess. The person on Lin Ke was grabbed by both arms and dragged away. Before the attacker could say anything, their mouth was covered. The scene became even more chaotic than before. Lin Ke was helped up, then squeezed out of the crowd by Lin Bingran’s fans.

The cake had fallen onto the ground. No one noticed her. Enduring the pain in her shoulder, Lin Ke patted her pant legs and quickly retreated from the scene. As she passed by the cake table, she did not forget to smoothly take another slice.

Saving someone had been an accident. The rest had nothing to do with her.

Lin Bingran’s mind was dazed. She was jostled by the crowd, and as she looked around, Guo Rongrong shielded her with her body.